Cam Problems

[budnate]

Dang..Ken that is terrible..did ya sit down and cry a little I think I would have after all this...

I am sure you double checked but Mac is right on the groove deal..did YOU lay eyes on the right bearing in the back?? the cam should have been grooved already if its a factory replacement piece.

I had similar deal years ago, truly tests your love for the car.

Mark a GTO guy I know does your method and claims it works fine as well...I set them a tick above 2k and let them go and lightly rpm up a little and back to the throttle stop at 2k in 3/5 min intervals, but have not broke a new came in lately and have been watching everyone under the sun have problems...my used cam stash is looking really good about now.

[ANDY M]

I had to replace my cam after the SCR last year, it wiped a lobe. It was a Crane MuscleCar cam, factory grind, less than 2 years old with less than 1500 miles on it.
My engine builder hates Crane, so he told me to go with a Lunati. I ran over to Jegs, (helps to live in Columbus), and the Lunati didn't even make it through the break-in.
The shop had to eat 10 hours of labor and put a Clevite factory grind in. Good thing for me it happened in their shop, and Jegs took back the Lunati, no questions asked.
Runs strong now, with Rotella oil in it.

[RPOL88]

Taking 3MACS1 a bit further, the 66 distributor also has an oil groove all the way around. 1967 and up is only about half way.

[RPOL88]

I said it backwards. 67 up is 360 degrees. 66 is only half way. Sorry for my mistake.

[Verne_Frantz]

If the groove is all the way around there will be no oiling problems no matter how how f'd up the distributor install is, but if it's only half way around, make sure the gear dimple is lined up with the rotor contact. If a distributor is rebuilt and the gear is put back with the dimple 180deg out of phase with the rotor contact, it will result in about a 16deg timing offset. (That position will also affect oiling) To get it to run right, you'll have to twist the distributor WAAAY out of it's normal position to get it timed. (or just switch the plug wires by one tower on the cap). But it will still be pointed the wrong way.

Verne

[3macs1]

Agree Verne. Looks like Ken has a couple of items to check before looking at the cam manufacturer.
Joe

[nuch_ss396]

Verne,

You may recall that there was a discussion on the NCRS site
some months ago about using early BBC ( rear journal grooved )
cams on later BBC combinations as long as the rear cam bearing
was modified to restrict oil flow to the rear of the cam.
I don't however recall anything mentioned about the distributor
issue that was mentioned here. Care to elaborate on that more?

I was considering this avenue for a planned L-88 build as
I have my eye on an early build L-88 cam. However, after
reading this post and many more like it, I'm petrified of
the down-side of cam failure. It seems that this is getting
out of control these days.

Steve

[3macs1]

Hi Steve:
Running a grooved cam in a 67 up block is no big deal really. We used to solder the rear cam bearing hole and redrill. Don't ask me the size, very small I remember. It is the bit in the top drawer of my tool box with tape on it LOL. The size is actually given in the how to hot rod BBC book.On the dist I am not sure. I never mixed them. My 66's were l-72's and I always used the 66 TI dist in them so had no issues. I did bake two cams like Ken however before I discovered I had the wrong rear cam bearing.Second one almost cost me the engine.